I said I’d never; but I already have…

As a new mom this phrase, I said I’d never but, I already have, speaks to me. I’ve just barely dipped my toes in this motherhood journey & I’ve already quickly realized that you can have all these grandiose ideas about parenthood & how you plan to raise your babies & sometimes you have to throw things out the window.

“I said I’d never but I already have” pretty much encompasses how our first week of parenting went. We never planned to formula feed. We had mixed feelings on introducing pacifiers, we certainly never anticipated spending time in the NICU . In some ways I’m thankful that our journey forced us to toss our plans out the window & just move forward.

One of my biggest I said I never woulds – the Google machine. As an ER nurse I know googling random medical questions is a cardinal NO NO. In fact it’s one of the fastest ways to get an eyeroll in an emergency room. As a new mom I found myself struggling to fall back asleep after Will’s 5am feeding, knowing he’d be awake again in 90 minutes. So, I unhealthily spent most of that early morning time on Google: wondering if his baby acne was something more, if his head looked too flat, if I should worry that he favors looking to one side and on and on. Every nurse bone in my body would yell at me to stop! Usually by day break I would have talked myself down… Once William started sleeping through the night I found myself not doing it quite as much but every once and awhile I’ll find myself scrolling through a mom forum discussing things that I know I don’t need to worry about it typing something absurd into Google!

I think motherhood is all about walking this line of sticking to your guns but also making concessions on things when it’s what is needed. We weren’t super into the idea of pacifiers, but in the NICU they use them all the time for the babies, especially during procedures. I wasn’t about to sent him some of that comfort because of what I’d been told in a breastfeeding class. So our “no pacifiers” went straight out the window. And guess what? Life moved on. He continued to breastfeed without issue despite what lactation consultants would tell us and ironically at nearly 7 months William has little to no interest in pacifiers

What are some concessions you had made early on in motherhood? What are other things that you don’t budge on?

I know there will be more. Probably today. We’re leaving this morning for Miami & then tomorrow we’re heading to the Caribbean for a week. Wish us luck.

Six Months

Six months. Half a trip around the sun. I feel like all of the sudden my little baby isn’t such a little baby anymore (cue the tears!). Even though he’s still physically fairly little, only weighing in at 15 pounds. This month seemed like William took a huge developmental leap. He has figured out to army crawl around, he learned to whisper when he babbles – which to be honest, is hilarious. He started the journey of solid foods. One of the biggest changes I’d say is how much more cuddly he’s become. He’s never been a super snuggly baby, but now when he gets tired he’ll lay his little head on your shoulder and totally nuzzle in. As much as I wish time would slow down & I say it in every single one of these monthly updates, this month William has seemed to grow up so much & it honestly makes me so excited to see what this cool little guy is gonna be like. We have a big month coming up, William will be going on his first international trip, plus we’ll be heading to Austin for Thanksgiving, needless to say his seven month update will be here before I even know it.

3 months

                               “

And just like that William is 3 months old. In some ways it feels like it has completely flown by & he looks huge to me & in other ways it feels like so much time has passed! It feels like forever ago I was pregnant, even though I still have the linea negra to show it wasn’t all that long ago! This month Will has started to grab at toys and pull them to his face, he’s getting more comfortable at tummy time & everyday seems like he’s finding a new part of his voice. Last week he discovered he could scream(!!). He continues to sleep through the night (bless him!). & he’s taking 2-3 naps per day. He’s also becoming a lot more aware of our dog & cat & has taken to petting/grabbing Juno’s fur. He’s our happy little guy & everyday I love him more!

Below are a few outtakes from his 3 month photos!

7585750448_img_8794

Sunshine, Pineapples & Sourdough Bagels

img_8429.jpg

San Francisco has been experiencing some of the most beautiful spring weather for the last week, late into the afternoon you can still comfortably walk around in shorts & a T-shirt. It’s been amazing, & we’ve definitely been taking advantage. Here’s some photos from the past week in all this beautiful weather! My little baby is officially the size of a pineapple which seems SO big. I haven’t been doing serial bump shots in the same outfit or anything like that, but I occasionally get inspired to document the bump because I know it’ll be gone before I know it. So today I got some photos to commemorate week 29, the pineapple week, Juno was very intrigued as to what was happening. This past week I’ve started to feel really pregnant. I’m way more tired after a standard day & notice that it’s just getting harder to move around. The nurse in me knows it’s my bodies way of telling me I shouldn’t be trying to do quite as much. So I’ve been trying to my best to listen & slow down a little bit. I’ve been trying to find easy ways to get Juno exercised & the beach is definitely a fail safe. So yesterday we spent the afternoon at Ocean Beach, I was able to sit on a blanket & let the bump get some sunshine while Juno chased after a ball. Along with feeling more tired, I’ve noticed that my cravings are coming back & once I have my mind set on something I have to have it! This morning it was a sourdough bagel with the honey almond shmear from Noah’s Bagels. Juno & I walked 2 miles round trip in order to get this & it was SO worth it! I’m spending the next five out of six days working, so needless to say we don’t have anything exciting planned this weekend, but next weekend we’re going on our second mini babymoon & I’m super excited!

Happy Friday ❤

Winter Babymooning

 

Here are some photos from our babymoon this weekend. We rented a little log cabin & stayed outside of Tahoe for two nights. I know most babymoons take place by a pool, with a mocktail in hand but given that we live so close to Tahoe & that my pregnancy is primarily taking place in winter this seemed like a very fun & romantic choice. It was so nice to unplug, be out of cell service & just enjoy each other’s company. I told Chris how happy I was to make once last trip up to the snow before the baby because I know each consequent trip from here on out is going to look a lot different.

The resort we stayed at, Sorenson’s has a little cafe that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They deliver firewood to your porch daily & are dog friendly (pretty much checking all our boxes haha!) We packed some of our own food because our cabin came equipped with a full kitchen. I brought some homemade chili that just needed reheating & I brought some buttermilk pecan sticky buns. The sticky buns turned out SO good, here’s the recipe . Then we grabbed dinner at the cafe our second night.

 Each day we strapped on our snowshoes & went exploring. Even though snow shoeing may sound terribly bland it’s actually a lot of fun. It’s basically snow hiking so you can stay on a trail or off road & climb up the mountain. It’s the perfect, free, activity for people who aren’t into skiing or snowboarding but still want to enjoy the scenery. We had Juno with us so she was off exploring or chasing after her ball & we were able to keep up with her.

We are planning a little warmer of a babymoon next month, but we’ll still be driving there. Chris & I have always loved going on road trips & driving together in the car. We spent a lot of weekends early on in our relationship driving the Pacific Coast Highway, so it seemed appropriate to pick babymoons that we could drive to. Especially since car rides post baby I’m sure will be less leisurely haha.

Hope everyone had a great weekend ❤